Andromeda Black
by Snarkiness
Summary: Sirius's daughter has come to Hogwarts. Now in her 3rd year, Andi goes to the Quidditch World cup with the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione. HarryAndi. Books 4 through 7.
1. Chapter 1

"_Excuse me! Excuse me. Could you tell me where platform 9 3/4 is?" I asked the man in uniform. _

"_Platform 9 ¾? Funny one aren't you?" He chuckled and walked away. _

"…_packed with muggles every year." I heard a red-headed woman complain._

"_Muggles?" Oh, yes, that's what Hagrid had called the people who were non-magic. Brushing back black curls, I followed the woman and her children. _

"_You first, Fred, George, Percy." One by one, the three red-headed boys walked straight into the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. I watched in awe as they went through it. _

"_Excuse me!" the woman turned to look at me, with her still were two boys and a girl, and a man. "Could you tell me how to… um" I pointed at the wall._

"_Get on the platform?" I nodded to her. "It's easy. It's Ginny's first time to Hogwarts as well." the girl smiled at me. "Now, all you have to do is to walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10." I pushed the cart containing my trunk and snowy owl at the barrier. Closing my eyes, I braced myself for collision; instead, I ended up on the other side. A red train loomed ahead. Another man directed me to a car of the train. Stowing my things in an overhead compartment, I took a seat in an empty seat. I saw several people walk by the door to my compartment, then walk away. I recognized no one, but the red-headed twins, Fred and George. _

"_Looks like you stir up quite a crowd. What's your name?" one of them asked as they sat across from me. I didn't know which was which. _

"_Andi Black." they exchanged glances and got up. "Where are you going?" _

"_Unfinished business, places to go..."_

"_People to see." they shut the door behind them and once again, I was alone. The train gave a jolt as it began to move. The red-headed girl opened the door. _

"_Do you mind if I sit with you?" I smiled as she sat; hopefully she would stay longer then her brothers. "I'm Ginny, by the way." _

"_I'm Andi Black." she tilted her head to the side. "Are you going to leave?" _

"_No, why would I do that?" Ginny took off her coat and laid it across the seat._

"_Your brothers left after I told them who I am." I twirled a piece of hair around my finger. _

"_That's Fred and George for you. Wasn't your hair black before?" I looked at the lock of hair I was holding. It was a vivid shade of pink. _

"_Oh, yes it was. I change my hair all the time. Do you want to see?" Ginny nodded eagerly. I closed my eyes and my hair turned about six different colors. _

"_Wow, I don't know anyone who can do that. Oh, hi, Hermione." There was a girl in scarlet and gold Hogwarts robes standing in the door. _

"_Ginny, have you seen Harry or Ron?" Ginny gave her a small 'no'. She sighed and tucked a piece of bushy brown hair behind her ear. "I'm Hermione Granger by the way." She turned to me._

"_Andi Black." Hermione stayed and talked with us until we had arrived at Hogwarts. _

_We waited out side the Great Hall with the other first years until a professor came to greet us. "In a few moments the sorting will begin. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here, your houses will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule breaking will lose you points." _

"_There's not a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin." Ginny commented darkly. The woman returned and led us into the hall. There were four long tables. I saw Hermione, Fred, and George at the table to our left. The professor stopped us at the front of the room. There was an old hat sitting on a stool in front of us. _

"_Now when I call your name, you will step forward and sit on the stool and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. Colin Adams." a small pale boy sat on the stool. _

"_Hufflepuff!" a voice screamed. The table farthest away from us cheered. I looked at Ginny, she pointed at the hat. The hat had talked. _

"_Andromeda Black." I couldn't move. Ginny gave me a small shove. Slowly I moved for the stool. I noticed my hair beginning to turn purple, as it always did when I was nervous. I turned it back to black as the professor put the hat on my head. _

"_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin." I whisper begged the hat. The entire hall went silent. _

"_Not Slytherin, eh? You'd be great there. It's all here in your head." I begged again for anything but Slytherin. "__**Slytherin!**__" it shouted. _

I bolted upright in my bed. It just wasn't right. The Sorting Hat had put me in Gryffindor. I looked around at my room, at all the Gryffindor hangings. Everything was right again. Looking at the clock I found that I had over slept. It was nearly two o' clock in the morning. Groaning, I got out of my warm bed and blindly tugged on clothes. Stopping only to make sure I matched, I trudged down the stairs to wait for Mr. Weasely. I was going to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione. Being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team since my first year, as chaser, I knew all about the game, but I had never actually watched one. I had always been the one playing. I checked my Hogwarts trunk that had been lying on the floor since last night, to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. Olyessia, my snowy owl, fluttered sleepily in her cage next to my firebolt. Five minutes later I heard a small pop and Mr. Weasley stood at the back door. Pulling my sweater on, I followed him into the yard, dragging my trunk along. "How are you tonight, Andi?" he asked quietly.

"Fine, but a little tired." he stopped at a random point in the yard.

"Hold tight to my arm now, make sure you've got a solid hold on your owl." Gripping Olyessia's cage and my broom tightly, I took hold of his arm.

"How are we getting to the Burrow?"

"Apparation." He explained.

"I can't… what?" I was more than a little confused.

"Apparation is how a wizard gets from one place to another quickly. Since you haven't learned how to Apparate yet, I'll have to take you by Side-Along-Apparation. Ready?" After I nodded he turned on the spot and we disappeared. My entire body felt like it was being squeezed through a very small tube. Seconds later we appeared on the lawn of the Burrow. My lungs expanded gratefully. A single light came from the kitchen window. As soon as we entered, I saw Mrs. Weasley already busy with breakfast.

"Andi, dear, it's so good to see you. Have you got all your things?" I nodded. "All of you books and all of your clothes?" Again I nodded. "Happy late birthday, by the way." I had nearly forgotten, yesterday had been my 13th birthday. July 31st, the same day as Harry's. Hermione tiptoed quietly down the stairs followed by Ginny, Harry, and a barley conscious Ron. Harry smiled at me, grogginess broken. I turned slightly pink as I smiled back. Mrs. Weasley sat us all down at the table and didn't let us leave until we had eaten something, no matter how tired we were. Ron had fallen asleep, with his head on the table. This went unnoticed by his mother but not by his older twin brothers, Fred and George. They were taking turns throwing pieces of food into Ron's hair, who slept through it all. The pieces seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Finally I nudged Ron. His head shot off the table, sending the bits of food flying across the room. More than a few hit Hermione in the face. I choked back laughter as Mrs. Weasley turned to find out why everyone was laughing.

"I don't think Ron will be falling asleep at the table anymore." Harry whispered in my ear. Goose bumps rippled over my body. No matter how many times Hermione pointed it out; I did not have a crush on Harry Potter. Well, maybe a little. Ron was asking where Bill, Charlie, and Percy, his older brothers, were. Mrs. Weasley told them that they'd be Apparating to the field later. Checking his watch one final time before telling us it was time to leave. Swinging the strap of my messenger bag over my head, we all followed Mr. Weasley along a path to a hill. Up ahead, Fred and George were reminiscing the scolding their mother had given them before leaving, Hermione and Ginny walked behind them bursting into fits of giggles when they tried to impersonate their mother. Harry and I were yet another row back, having a contest of who could spin their wands around their fingers the longest. Ron trudged along behind us jumping every time one of our wands emitted sparks.

"I win." Harry said as I dropped my wand in the grass.

"About time Weasley!" a man shouted from a nearby tree. All of us looked around for a clue as to who he was.

"Amos Diggory!" Mr. Weasley shouted back. They shook hands while a boy of about 17 dropped from the tree. "And this must be Cedric?" he asked. The boy nodded and shook Mr. Weasley's hand politely.

"My word, Arthur, are all of these children yours?" He asked taking in all seven of us.

"Good heavens no! Just the red heads, except that one." he said pointing to me. Harry and I looked at him blankly; we hadn't heard any of the conversation. Harry had been testing my hair colors, naming every color he could think of. Mr. Diggory had just happened to land on red.

"How 'bout… this color" he asked pointing to his vivid green eye. He stopped, realizing that he was the only one talking. I stopped also, hair half way between red and green. Once it was black again, we walked towards an ancient boot that was lying on the ground. One by one, everyone got down on the ground until Harry, Hermione and I were the only ones standing.

"Get down!" Mr. Weasley shouted. Sandwiched between the older two, Hermione and I mimicked the others by putting a finger on the boot. "Harry!" Mr. Weasley yelled as a blue light came from the boot. Harry grabbed the boot as it began to spin. I felt a jerk behind my navel as we went soaring through the air. "Let go!"

"What?" Hermione shrieked over the wind. Mr. Weasley repeated his instructions. Letting go of the boot, Ginny, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, and I all crashed to the ground. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric floated down gently.

"I bet that cleared your sinuses!" Mr. Diggory roared with laughter. We followed him over the hill until we saw an enormous camp site. Parting ways, we walked to a small tent.

"Everyone in!" One by one, we filed into the tent. The tent was about six times larger than it looked. There were three rooms, a kitchen, and a general area.

"I love magic." I heard Harry mutter behind me.

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**A/N- Claiming the characters other than Andi and a few others you are yet to meet, is, regrettably, forbidden. However, a person is allowed to dream. **


	2. Chapter 2

"Andi, show Hermione what McGonagall taught you!" Ginny pleaded from the top bunk. Tossing my wand on the bottom bunk I turned myself into a black dog.

"_Animagus _and_ a Metamorphagus, that is a rare combination. Yes, I remember your parents: your mother, Jennifer, was a Metamorphagus; she was exceptionally gifted, and Muggle-born." McGonagall fell silent._

"_What about my father?" _

"_Sirius Black, he was an Animagus, not unlike yourself. Him, Remus, James, and Peter." _

"_Professor Lupin and James Potter?" she rummaged around in her desk drawer for a minute and pulled out two sheets of paper. _

"_Professor Lupin left these here for you." she handed me two pictures. The first was of six Hogwarts students, four boys and two girls, probably in their seventh year. Turning it around, I found six names scrawled on the back: __Sirius, Jenn, James, Lily, Remus, and Peter. __The second was of three people, smiling happily, a man, a woman, and their baby. Again their names were written on the back: __Sirius, Jenn, and Andromeda Marie. _

"That's **amazing**!" Ron burst from the door. Turning back into myself I jammed my wand back into the pocket of my jeans and dug around in my messenger bag for the pictures I had received last year. I carried them everywhere.

"Come on people! Move it, Quidditch!!!" Fred and George shouted, running in circles, clad in green. "**TO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH!!" **

The Quidditch stadium held around a hundred thousand people. We just happened to be at the very top. Mr. Weasley led all of us up to the Top Box and our seats. "Blimey, Dad, how far up are we?" Ron asked once he was in front of his seat and looking hundreds of feet down at the grass.

"Well, put it this way: if it rains, you'll be the first to know." a slimy voice commented from a few rows below. The voice belonged to Lucius Malfoy. With him were Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. Hermione and I stepped up to the rail to look down at them. "Weasley."

"Malfoy." Mr. Weasley snapped, making no effort to conceal him dislike.

"Well my oh my." Narcissa spoke up. "You are obviously a Black." She moved closer to me. "Narcissa Malfoy, I am you father's cousin." she pointed to my sweatshirt. Beneath the Gryffindor symbol was my last name: Black.

"Pleasure." I said dully.

"We're in the Minister's Box, by personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself!" Draco bragged. His father turned and hit him with his cane.

"Don't boast, Draco." Green sparks erupted in the sky as Bill, Charlie, and Percy found us, and the Malfoys took their seats. The sparks took form as the Irish flag and flew above our heads. Once they got close enough, we could see that they were not sparks, but leprechauns.

"**IRISH!!"** the three Weasley boys bellowed. The leprechauns flew to the opposite side of the stadium and formed on big dancing leprechaun. Jets of red light shot towards the dancing figure. Seven players tore through it and circled the stadium. One in particular flew out ahead and flipped upside down.

"Who is that?" Ginny asked when everyone cheered.

"That sis is the best seeker ever: Viktor Krum." The whistle blew and the match began. The commentator had only enough time to say the names of the player before the Quaffle was passed to someone else. We watched as the Irish scored three, four, five goals while the Bulgarians had only scored once. Krum shot off in a vertical dive towards the ground. The Irish seeker followed.

"They're going to crash!" I shrieked over the crowd. A few feet off the ground, the two seekers were still hurtling to the ground. Krum pulled up and spiraled off and the other seeker crashed. Krum was once again high up and had time to himself to look for the snitch. Five hours later, with a score of 170 to 10, the Irish seeker spotted the snitch as a stray bludger hit Krum in the face. The Irish seeker was on a lone chase for the snitch.

"Go! He's seen the snitch!" Harry shouted. Blood sprayed back as Krum rocketed across the pitch after the other seeker. "How can he see?" he yelled in my ear. Shrugging, I pointed to the seekers as they flew towards the ground again.

"They're going to crash." Hermione yelled. She was half right. The Irish seeker crashed while Krum reached out, and then crashed a well. "Where's the snitch?"

"**Krum's got it!" **Fred and George roared. With that the Quidditch World Cup came to an end, Ireland 170 Bulgaria 160. Back at our tent we all chattered noisily, reliving all the best moments. Fred and George had devised some sort of victory dance. Shouts came from outside as Mr. Weasley came in looking rather pale. "Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on."

"Stop! Stop!" he said silencing everyone. "It's not the Irish. We need to go now." We followed him out of the tent and saw a dozen masked and hooded figures. Flames danced around us springing off of tents. "Everyone back to the portkey! Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility. Harry, Andi is yours!" Harry grabbed my hand and drug me through the crowd of frantic people.

"Harry!" Hermione screeched. We looked around for them; they were nowhere to be found. Someone knocked into us from behind, sending us both to the ground. Another panicking person kicked Harry's head, slamming it into mine and rendering us both unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- I apologize for spelling mistakes. I can't seem to find my book… Enjoy!**

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"MORSMORDRE!" a man shouted and pointed his wand to the sky. A giant skull appeared with a serpent coming from its mouth. Taking my hand once again, Harry pulled me to my feet. He winced and slapped his free hand to his forehead.

"Harry?!?" came Hermione's distant call. He looked at me then back at the spot where the man stood, trying to make sure I had seen the man. "Harry, what's going on, where were you?" Ron and Hermione stopped next to us. Harry and I turned to show them the man that had sent up the curse.

"There was a… man." I said pointing to the rubble filled field. The man was gone.

"STUPEFY!" twenty voices bellowed as one. All four of us crouched down as more stunning spells flew over our heads.

"Stop! That's my son!" Mr. Weasley shouted. The red jets ceased as Mr. Weasley burst through the ring of men. "Are you all okay?"

"Which of you conjured it?" Barty Crouch demanded waving his wand dangerously close to our faces. I moved to knock his wand away, but I felt an arm behind me holding my arm down. "Who did it?"

"They're just kids. They couldn't have done that." Mr. Weasley defended.

"Done what?" Harry interrupted.

"It's the dark mark, Harry. That's _his_ mark." I explained. We both turned to look at the empty spot where the man had stood. "That man…"

"What man?"

"There was a man over there." he pointed to the open waste land.

"Follow me! All of you this way!" Mr. Weasley motioned for us to follow him while Crouch and the others went in the opposite direction, looking for the mystery man.

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Back at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was busy fussing over us, making sure that all of us were alright. A snowy white owl flew in the window interrupting her. It dropped a letter in between Harry's and my plate. "It's mine!" I picked up the letter and got off my chair in a desperate attempt to flee Mrs. Wealsey's fussing.

"Sit!" she ordered sternly. Slowly, I sank back into my chair and opened the letter. It was from the Morgans, my aunt and uncle that I have lived with since my parents died. Unlike Harry's aunt and uncle, the Morgans considered me as their daughter. I was as good as Susana, my 11 year old cousin. I read the letter through slowly:

Andi,

You will never believe what arrived for me in the mail. Since you can't guess, I'll tell you. I got… wait for it… a letter from Hogwarts! What did you say were the houses? You and Harry are in Gryffindor right? Should I get an owl or a cat? Or maybe a toad? I don't know!

The letter went on for another page, filled with random and silly questions, which were no doubt explained in the letter she had received.

"Harry, look at this." I handed him the first page of the letter. "Susana's coming to Hogwarts." He read through the letter, laughing at the silly questions Susana had written. At the very end there was a note that they were going to Diagon Alley in two days.

"Perfect, maybe we'll see them there." Mrs. Weasley said when I told her the date.


	4. Chapter 4

"You are going to have a fun year at Hogwarts." Bill commented as we were loading our trunks onto the train. Percy shot him a stern look.

"What is going on that you're not telling us?" Ron bellowed at his brother. Mrs. Weasley shooed us aboard the train. Susana gripped my arm out of excitement and fear. We waved to Mrs. Weasley and the Morgans as lurched forward.

When we were nearly to Hogwarts, the figure of Draco Malfoy filled the door way. Everyone stopped talking at once. "You aren't really still talking to these people are you?" he demanded.

"Who are you to tell her she can't?" Harry snapped, getting to his feet.

Fixing his robes, as if ready for a fight, he sneered "Andi is fortunate enough to have me as a cousin."

"Break it up children." I warned over the top of my book.

"Really, Mudbloods, Blood Traitors, and The Boy Who Lived. And that Mudblood of a cousin." I was out of my seat and had my wand in his face before he blinked.

"Say it again, come on call her a Mudblood again. I dare you." Harry tugged on my arm, trying to stop me from using the first spell that popped into my head. I lowered my arm and turned. As soon as Harry let go of my arm I turned back and swung. Draco didn't know what hit him, but he found out real soon. I heard a crunch as my fist made contact with his nose. "Still think they're Mudbloods?" I shook my hand off, trying to relieve the sting and lose some of the blood.

"You'll pay for that, even if you are family." Draco stormed off. I slammed the compartment door behind him.

"That felt good." Hermione was looking out the window with a menacing glare. Susana opened the door and stepped into the compartment.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Malfoy called Hermione, and you, a Mudblood." Ron explained. Susana made the mistake of asking what a Mudblood was.

"Mudblood is a very foul term for someone who is Muggle-born. Someone who has non magical parents, someone like me and you. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation." Hermione snapped bitterly.

"Firs' years over here!" a familiar voice called out as the train screeched to a halt.

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Once everyone was sorted, Susana into Gryffindor thank you very much, Dumbledore stood to address us. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Our caretaker, Mr. Filtch, has asked me to remind you that the forest is off limits to _all students._" his careful gaze rested over the Weasley twins. "Also, Hogwarts will not only be your home this year, as Hogwarts has been selected to host a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament." whispers swept through the crowd. "Also, we wish to welcome Professor Moody, who has consented to fill the role of defense against the dark arts. Good luck, Professor." The great doors burst open and Filtch came through, half running, half hobbling. He whispered something to Dumbledore and hobbled back up the line of tables. "Now, if you will join me in welcoming the young ladies from Beauxbatons Academy." about a dozen girls of about 17 burst through the door and trotted their way down the isle between the tables. They took a seat at the Hufflepuff table. "Now, we welcome the proud sons of Durmstrang and their Headmaster Igor Karkaroff." Again, about a dozen men of about 17 burst through the door. Once they reached the front of the room, they put their wands to their mouths and flames shot from the tips. Another 17 year old and a man that was much older came through the door.

"Blimey, that's him, Viktor Krum." Ron muttered as the Durmstrang students took their seats at the Slytherin table. Malfoy looked quite pleased with himself that Krum was sitting near him.

"There are some rules that we have to lay down. To explain these rules, please welcome Mr. Bartemous Crouch." A very fidgety man dressed in black stepped to the center and spoke.

"No student under the age of 17 will be allowed to compete." murmurs of outrage rippled through the students.

"That's rubbish!" the Weasley twins bellowed.

"Now that's too bad." Harry commented.


	5. Chapter 5

"We have assembled here today for the naming of the three Triwizard champions." Dumbledore's voice filled the Great Hall. It was Halloween night and all of us had gathered in the Great Hall to see who would be competing. The goblet of fire sat on a pedestal on the platform where the high table usually sat. It began to glow blue and a small piece of paper shot out the top. Dumbledore caught it and read off the name. "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum." We all clapped as he stood and walked through the door that Dumbledore was pointing to. Another paper shot out of the goblet. "The champion from Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour." She too walked through the heavy door behind the goblet. "Finally, the Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory." Once Cedirc had gone through the door Dumbledore continued talking. That is until we all realized that the goblet was emitting blue fire as it had when it selected the champions.

"What's going on?" I whispered in Harry's ear. He shrugged. Dumbledore was looking around the Great Hall.

"Harry Potter?" he said quietly. Harry turned to look at me. "**HARRY POTTER!**" he bellowed. Everyone looked around for him.

"Oh for goodness sake, Harry, go." I grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him, I stood too. "Go." I gave him a little push and slowly sat back down. Nervously I chewed on my thumbnail, ignoring the sickening taste of the pink polish. Every few steps he turned back to look at me. Once he reached Dumbledore he was handed the paper with his name on it and directed to the room with the rest of the champions. The rest of us were dismissed as the teachers and Mr. Crouch went into the room also.

I sat alone in the common room later, still waiting for Harry to get back. I looked at my poor thumbnail; I had chewed it to the quick. The portrait hole swung open and Harry stepped through. "What happened?" I asked getting out of my chair, dumping Crookshanks on the floor. "Are you competing?" he nodded and sat in my vacated seat while I paced. "Did they say what the task is or when?"

"Yeah, but they won't say what the task is. Said it was part of the competition. Hagrid wanted me to come down and see him, wanna come along?" I began packing up my discarded books and Harry went to get his invisibility cloak.

Hagrid led us into the woods and stopped at a clump of bushes. "Put the cloak on." he ordered. As Harry draped the cloak over our heads someone came around the bushes. It was Madam Maxime. Behind her were four cages that barely restrained the dragons inside.

"Can we get closer?" she asked already going forward. Once she was out of sight Harry pulled the cloak off our heads.

"Dragons? That's the first task?" Hagrid proceeded on with his usual spiel about how dragons are misunderstood. Neither of us were paying attention, but were trying to come up with a plan on what to about the dragon.

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After we had gotten back to the castle we sent a long letter to my dad, Sirius, telling him about the dragons. I had never actually met him but I sometimes wrote to him. His reply was to meet him in the common room in a week at midnight, by the fire. Whatever that meant, we didn't know.


	6. Chapter 6

"How do you defeat a dragon? I mean, you can't Stun 'em." I paced in front of the fire in the common room. It had been long since deserted, with the exception of Ron who was fast asleep in the armchair, books rising and falling with his chest. I looked at him pitifully before slumping onto the couch next to Harry. Picking up my discarded, seldom worn glasses, I examined them critically. The black rectangle plastic frames seemed darker, yet glowing in the fire light. I put them on and tugged the rubber band out of my hair, sending black curls cascading down my back, nearly to my waist. I sighed and picked up a spell book. Flipping through its pages, I figured it was pretty much useless and discarded it yet again. I sat back and rested my head on Harry's shoulder. "I'm scared for you."

"_I'm _scared for me." he said quietly. "I mean, it's pretty much useless. All the other champions have….." he searched for a word to complete the sentence.

"Yes, they do have _three years_ of magical training that you don't have, but _they_ haven't been up against all the things you have, have they?" I tried to reason, standing.

"Andi, that's not-" he began

"Yes it is. Did they face a hundred dementors when they were 13?"

"Anne-"

"Face a basilisk? Or Voldemort when they were _eleven_? And don't even 'Anne' me." to this he had no reply. I sat back down on the edge of the couch. "All I'm trying to say is that you might have faced things that some full grown wizards have never faced." Ron stirred in his chair.

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Harry and I walked down to breakfast the next morning. Every time I asked him a question or made a comment he gave a short curt reply or none at all. I grabbed his arm half way down the stairs, bringing him to a stop.

"What is wrong with you? I've known you for six years and not _once_ have you been like this." I snapped.

"Nothing, just a little tired." he mumbled.

"Rubbish."

"No one here believes me, Anne, about how my name got into that cup. No one at all." he sighed quietly leaning on the window.

"No one?" I asked, he nodded in reply. "What am I then, a bump on a log?" A smile flickered across his lips then vanished. "I'm sure Ron and Hermione believe you too."

"Hermione… maybe, but Ron… no, definitely not." He argued pounding his fist on the glass.

"¿Por qué?" I asked, just as quietly as he'd been with his first reply. He shook his head and started to move down the stairs. I stopped him again, much gentler this time. "Dígame, por favor." (Tell me, please) I knew he understood me.

"Ron… I dunno, I guess he just thinks I'm some sort of stupid idiot who wants attention." I let him continue on down the stairs, following him this time. "Can I ask you a question? How is it th—" he began.

"Ok, if you're gonna ask if you can ask me a question, at least give me time to answer, unless it's a rhetorical question, then go ahead." I interrupted smiling.

"_Anyways_." He laughed, "How is it that every time you ask a question that I don't want to answer, you rephrase it in Spanish and I could tell you my darkest secrets?" I hid my reddening face behind a veil of hair. Adorableness!! Thank you to my mother for teaching me Spanish.

"Define darkest secrets." I replied slyly.

"Well there was that time last week when…" he joked.

"You can't _seriously_ still be hanging around with _him_. Do you have a death wish?" a voice sneered from up the stairs. We turned to see Draco coming down the stairs with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Piérdase, Draco." I snapped continuing into the great hall.

"What did you call me?" he bellowed after me.

"She told you to get lost." Harry snapped.

"You seem a little tense, Potter." Harry shot him a look and I stopped walking, already a few paces ahead of them. "You see, my father and I have a bet. He thinks you won't last 10 minutes. I disagree." Harry too stopped; slowly he turned to look at Draco. "I think you won't last 5."

"I don't give a damn what you or your father thinks Malfoy. He's vile and cruel, and you're just pathetic." he spun on his heel and stalked away. He didn't get very far before Draco tried to curse him.

"**OH NO YOU DON'T, SONNY!!!" **Mad-Eye bellowed at him. He flicked him wand and Draco was replaced by a white ferret. "I'll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned." he began bouncing the ferret up into the air and slamming it back onto the concrete floor. Each time the ferret went up , he went higher and higher until…

"Professor Moody! What are you doing?" McGonagall screeched.

"Teaching." was his short reply.

"Is- is that a-a student?" she sputtered.

"In all technicality, it's a ferret." Harry and I stood at the base of the stairs, trembling with restrained laughter. McGonagall flicked her wand with a stern glare at Moody and Draco returned to normal.

"My father will hear about this!" he yelled as he scurried away.

"I could tell you stories about your father that would curl even your greasy hair, boy! It doesn't end here!"

"We _never_ use transfiguration as a punishment. Surely Dumbledore mentioned it."

"He might have said something about it." Moody mumbled, clearly displeased at being reprimanded.

"You will do well to remember it." she turned to Harry and I and a few other students who had gathered to watch. "Go on all of you."

"You, come with me." Moody snapped to Harry.

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**A/N- sorry for the brief language, I'm trying to follow the movie script for this one part!! leave a review or I shan't write more! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N- in case any of you are interested…. I'm planning to write a prequel to this story… you know, with Lily, James, Sirius and the rest of the gang. It's called **_**It Takes Two **_**I'm gonna be posting it soon!!!**

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Harry raced out of Moody's office, ideas spilling out of his overloading brain. _More than a fair flier!_ He ran through the halls looking for Andi. He found her headed up the stairs towards the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw dorms with a boy he'd only seen a few times before. "Andi!" he called after her. She didn't seem to have heard him. "Andi!" still she didn't respond. "Andromeda Marie!" This time she turned.

"What?" She snapped at him, hair changing to a fiery red at the displeasure of hearing her full name. The boy next to her turned also. For a moment Harry was distracted trying to figure out who he was.

"I need you to teach me how to do a summoning charm." She said good bye to the boy and followed Harry to the common room. "Who was that guy, by the way?" Harry dared to ask Andi once they were out of earshot.

"Matt?" she paused as if to find the right words. "Uh, he's a… friend of mine." Harry stopped walking.

"Just a friend?" Andi stopped walking too. She turned to look at him, suspicion arising.

"For now, why? Is this some kind of older brother-ish overprotectiveness? I really don't need it you know, I get enough of that from my uncle." Harry looked away.

_No, its jealousy. _"Yeah, I-I guess it is. I just don't want you to get hurt." Jealousy? Where had that come from? He watched as she continued up the stairs.

"Do you want to learn a Summoning Charm or not?"

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"Now, this is slightly easier than teaching me to do a Patronus Charm." Harry rolled his eyes at her but let her continue. "When do you need to know this by?"

"Tomorrow, for the first task." she didn't say anything. "My plan was- is- to Summon my broom, coax the dragon into the air, dive down, get the golden egg, and get out."

"Golden egg?"

"Crouch said that we had to recover a golden egg from this task to proceed to the next one."

"Alright, you have to focus on what you want to Summon, though not as much as the Patronus. Start with the book on the floor."

"_Accio Book!_" the book didn't move. He tried it again and again until the book twitched.

"Here, watch. _Accio Book!_" the book soared into her hands. They continued to practice for a few more hours. Not until Harry had perfectly Summoned the book, or whatever other object, did they sneak back up to the common room, as it was well past curfew. Andi sat on the couch in the common room surrounded by a mountain of books. Harry stood across from her, back to the fire, making random objects zoom across the room at him. He Summoned the book out of her hands by accident earning a stern glare. Andi tilted her head to the side glare disappearing.

"What?" He turned to look behind him at the fire. When he turned back around she had discarded her book and had gotten off the couch.

"The fire… Sirius!" she dropped to her knees in front and was no longer talking to him, Harry, but to Sirius' head that had appeared in the fire. They talked with him for a few minutes until the inevitable came around.

"I'm not ready for this Sirius!" Harry burst at one point.

"I know, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't scared. Keep your friends close, both of you." they nodded slightly frustrated that he was stating the obvious. "Some one's coming. Be careful!" His face disappeared from the fire.

"Well that was just maddeningly unhelpful." I said with a laugh. "Now, you'd best get to bed. Tomorrow's the first task and I won't have you so tired you can't think clearly. Go, now!"


	8. Chapter 8

I woke the next morning feeing slightly nervous. Trying to figure out why I was so nervous, I quickly got dressed to go to breakfast before the half a day of lessons and hen the first task. Ah, there it was, the reason why I was so nervous: the first task of he Triwizard Tournament. I wasn't even competing and I felt awful. Harry must be a mess. Ginny and I headed down to breakfast. As we'd already forgotten, lessons were only a half day so that all the students could watch the first task. In no time at all our lessons were finished and we were heading down to lunch. Harry fell into step beside me. He didn't say anything; it looked as though he would get sick if he opened his mouth. "Are you alright?" I asked him as McGonagall hurried over from the teachers' table.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds. You have to get ready for your first task." Harry nodded and stood, his fork clattering to the table.

"Good luck." I said in a voice barely above a whisper. "You'll do fine. I promise." I watched as they left the Great Hall while Dumbledore dismissed us out to the Quidditch Pitch. Susana, Hermione, Ginny, and I headed for the grounds. I spotted a white canvas tent that was set up near the entrance to the pitch. The champions had to be in there. I motioned for the rest of them to go ahead and I would catch up in a minute. Peering in I saw Harry and Cedric pacing the opposite sides of the tent, Fleur sitting on a little stool looking pale and clammy, and Krum standing in a corner looking surlier than ever. "Psst." I whispered as Harry passed me. "Harry?" I asked through the canvass, seeing as I wasn't supposed to be here.

"Andi, what are you doing down here? I thought you went to the Quidditch Pitch to watch the slaughter." I tried to laugh at his attempted humor. Given the circumstances, I thought that humor was a brave attempt.

"I came to wish you luck. You just need to concentrate and then all you have to do is..." I trailed off.

"Battle a dragon?" I gave a sigh that sounded almost like a whimper as I pushed open the canvas flap and hugged him tight.

"Just please, _please,_ be careful." I requested in a whisper as he hugged me back. A flash went off from across the tent and we jumped apart. It was Rita Skeeter and her camera man.

"Young love!" she said clasping her hands together. "How..." she paused, whether for dramatic effect or to search her small almost non-existent vocabulary, I didn't know. "stirring." she finally supplied. I rolled my eyes as she continued. "If everything goes... unfortunately today, you two may even make the front page." her Quick-Quotes-Quill was furiously scribbling down notes.

"You 'ave no business here." Krum snarled from his corner. She looked around as if not sure he was speaking to her. "Zis tent is for champions and friends."

"No matter, we've got everything we need." she left as Dumbledore and Crouch entered.

"Champions gather round." Dumbledore instructed. Harry grabbed my hand and pulled me into the ring of champions. "Now, this is a moment that only the four of you can fully..." he did a quick recount as he saw me. "Miss Black, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, sorry I 'll just go." Harry reluctantly released my hand. I gave him a pitiful glance, knowing fully well that he wanted nothing else but for me to stay. I exited the tent and found Hermione, Ginny, and Susana in the stands. Ron was lingering a few feet away, as if not sure he was going to cheer for Harry or not. A few minutes later Cedric came out of the tent looking even greener than when I had sen him last. He began to fight his dragon, transfiguring a rock into a dog and going for the egg while the dragon was distracted. Mid way through the chase after the dog, the dragon changed its mind and went after Cedric. Once Cedric had gotten his egg he was immediately swept off to the medical tent to treat the burns on his face. The judges gave him his scores, all out of ten. Cedric nodded at the judges before he disappeared into the tent. Fleur was next. She tried lull her dragon to sleep. The dragon snored and sent a jet of fire at her catching her skirt on fire. She put out her skirt and collected her egg. Krum's performance wasn't anything special. Finally Harry came out of the tent. He met my eyes, raised his wand and shouted, "_Accio Firebolt!" _I crossed my fingers and waited hoping that the broom was coming. There was a whooshing noise and the firebolt came soaring over the stands. The Horntail snapped its jaws at Harry as he got quickly on his broom. He shot upwards and I could tell he was feeling better about the whole thing. Once he was out of the dragon's reach, it shot a tongue of fire at him. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands. He dodged the fire and went higher, swerving this way and that. After a few seconds I figured out what he was doing: the dragon didn't want to leave the ground for fear of exposing her eggs. To the dragon Harry was like a pesky fly that she wanted to get rid of. She swiped he tail at him as he flew around caching him on the shoulder. I flinched. As Harry flew higher, the dragon extended its long neck as far as physically possible. Finally she reared up on her hind legs to get at Harry. He dove down and scooped up the egg and retreated back so he couldn't get hit with another swipe if the tail or a plume of fire. The entire crowd burst into applause as Harry flew slowly to the ground. I made my way down to the tent as Madam Pomphrey ushered Harry off.

"Dragons! Last year it was dementors and now look at this! What next? You can get your scores when I've healed that arm." she scolded as he tried to stop to look at the judges. I followed him into the tent with Ron and Hermione beside me. We waited for her to scurry off to attend to Cedric.

"Amazing work." I said brightly as I entered the small cubicle. He stood and hugged me tight as he had before he'd gone to face the dragon. "See I told you that you'd be fine." Harry caught sight of Ron standing in the door way.

"What do you want?" he asked halfway releasing me from the hug. Hermione stood next to Ron and I stood next to Harry with one arm still around his shoulders. We looked nervously between the two of them.

"Harry" Ron started very seriously, "Whoever put your name in the Goblet of Fire, I- I guess they were trying to do you in."

"Caught on have you? It took you long enough." Harry snapped coldly. I looked at the both of them quietly. Ron opened his to speak. Harry must've know that he was going to apologize and had decided that he didn't need to hear it. "Just forget it." Ron immediately began to protest. "_Forget it_." Ron grinned nervously at Harry, who grinned back as though nothing had happened. Hermione burst into tears. "There is nothing to cry about!"

"You boys are so stupid!" she screamed, tears streaming down her front. She dashed out of the tent, soon followed by the rest of us. We went back out onto the Quidditch Pitch to see Harry's scores.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry grabbed the golden egg and his firebolt as we headed out of the tent. Ron was walking as fast as he was talking "You were the best, you know, no competition Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground... turned it into a dog... he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well, the dragon changed its mind halfway though and decided that he would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into trance- well that kind of worked too, it went a sleepy, but then it snored and her skirt caught fire- she put it out with a bit of water from her wand. And Krum- you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs- they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them." Ron drew a breath as we reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail was taken away, I could tell that Harry felt more confident. He spotted the judges and tensed. I squeezed his hand.

"It's marks out of ten for each one." I explained while Ron was catching his breath. We squinted across the field and saw the first judge- Madame Maxime- raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a figure eight. "See, I told you that you'd be fine. I suppose they took marks off for your shoulder though." Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Ron shouted, thumping Harry hard on the back. Next, Dumbledore. He too shot up a number nine. The crowd was cheering louder than ever. Ludo Bagman- _ten_. Harry was muttering incoherently about how he'd gotten hurt. "Don't complain!" And now Karkaroff raised his wand, hesitated for a second and then he too shot a number into the air- four. "Four?! You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum a ten!" Ron bellowed furiously. I hugged Harry; he seemed much lighter and happier as we left the enclosure.

"You're tied for first place, Harry! You and Krum!" Charlie Weasley shouted as we came out of the enclosure. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore to tell her what happened- but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah- and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes... Bagman wants a word, back in the champions tent." Charlie left and Ron and I told Harry that we'd wait for him to finish. Fleur, Krum, and Cedric all entered right behind Harry. Ron and I listened at the door to see what Bagman had to say.

"Well done all of you!" Ludo Bagman said bouncing past us and into the tent and looking as pleased as thought he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now just a few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth- but we're giving you something to think about in the mean time! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open... see he hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg- because it tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go then!" Harry rejoined us outside the tent and we set off around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then as we rounded a clump of trees behind which Harry and I had first heard the dragons roar, witch leapt out from behind them. It was Rita Skeeter. Her aid green robes popped against the dark trees, as did the Quick Quotes Quill that she was probably still carrying from when I had seen her in the champion's tent.

"Congratulations Harry!" she said beaming at him. "i wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing the dragon? How feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?" she eyed me from my place next to Harry, clearly wondering if she could spice up the article that went with the picture she had taken earlier.

"Yeah, you can have a word." Harry said savagely. I looked at him curiously. "_Goodbye._" We set off for the castle, laughing.

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The next morning I hurried into divination, a very wooly discipline, in my opinion. I dropped into my seat next to Ginny and Isabella Parker, one of my best friends. Bella, Ginny, and I giggled and chattered trough Professor Trelawny's explanation on the various ways in which Pluto could disrupt every day life. "I would _think_," she said in a mystical whisper that did nothing whatsoever to conceal her annoyance. "that _some_ of us-" she stared pointedly at me. I was the Harry of the class, so to speak; whenever she predicted something dark and terrible it always had to do with me. "might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I have seen during my crystal gazing last night. As I sat here, absorbed in my needle work, the urge to consult the orb overpowered me. I arose, I settled myself before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths... and what do you think I saw gazing back at me?" she wandered aimlessly around the stuffy room.

"An ugly old bat in outsize specs?" Ginny muttered under her breath. Bella choked on her giggle.

"Careful, your beginning to sound like your brother." Bella warned as we both fought to keep straight faces. Ginny glared and we lost it, barely containing ourselves as Trelawny turned towards us.

"Death my dears." Ali Cover and Kelsi Bontreger both gasped and put their hands over their mouths looking horrified. "Yes," Trelawny continued, nodding impressively. "it comes, ever closer. It circles over the castle..." she stared pointedly at Bella and I. Finally I at least had someone to die with.

"It would be slightly more impressive if she hadn't done it about eighty times already." I said as we entered the Gryffindor common room.

"At least we get to die together." Bella swooned, dropping dramatically into the chair by the fire. Harry grinned at me as I sat next to him on the couch.

"So, she's predicted that you're going to die as well?" he chuckled.

"If I dropped dead every time she's told me I was going to, I'd be some sort of... medical miracle." I explained, yanking my books out of my bag.

"We can be super-concentrated ghosts together." Harry teased, handing me his essay to check. Bella smirked at me from her chair. I could tell she had other comments on the subject. I shook my head at her as I began looking over Harry's essay. Tapping my wand on his parchment, I began changing the errors in the paper. Once I handed it back Harry read it through. "Did I write any of this?" I laughed and shook my head no. "Then you have got to be the most amazing person ever." Harry stuffed all of his books into his bag, kissed my forehead out of sheer glee, and headed off to his next class. As soon as all of the fourth years were gone, I put my hand to my tingling forehead, smiling so much that my face threatened to split.

"Anne's got a boyfriend, Anne's got a boyfriend!" Bella chanted as Ginny entered the common room. I dropped my hand quickly and started in on my own homework.

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	10. Chapter 10

"Why do they have to travel in packs? And how are you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?" Harry asked as we trudged through the snow. Professor McGonagall had informed the fourth years and above about the Yule Ball, to take place on Christmas Eve (go figure) and Harry had to have a partner to open the Ball with. Ron shrugged at Harry's question. "Anne, tell me please! Why do girls travel in packs?" he nudged me out of my trance. A group of Ravenclaw girls passed us, giggling.

"I don't travel in a pack." Um hello? I'm on my own right now! I hinted. "Mostly." Bella, Ginny, and I didn't really constitute a 'pack'; you'd need at least four for that, thank you.

"You still don't have to start the dancing." Harry snapped bitterly. Ron focused on a pair of Beaubatons girls, trying not to laugh.

"I'm not even aloud to go. It's fourth years and up remember?" We entered the library for what the teachers called 'study hall' but was reffered to as 'think of something to do to get out of fill in the blank' time. Today, the blank was filled with Harry and Ron finding dance partners. Hermione and I sat scratching notes into the notebooks we were filling in for Snape, who was hovering near the front of the room. Fred and George sat a ways down near Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, the other two Chasers on the Gryffindor team. Fred passed a note to Ron; I read it upside-down. '_Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone._' Ron threw the note back with a sour look on his face.

"Who are you going with then?" Fred held up a finger, crumpled the paper and threw it at Angelina. She turned, looking rather furious if I might add. Clearly annoyed, she mouthed, "_What?"_

"Will you" Fred pointed at her. "go to the ball" he mimed dancing. "with me?" finally he pointed to hiself. Angelina smiled and shook her head yes. Fred gave her a thumbs up.

"Oy, Hermione." she tore her eyes away from the book to look at Ron. "You're a girl."

"Well spotted." she snapped acidly. Snape strode up behind them. He whacked them each on the head with a notebook before walking away.

"Come on. It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone, for a girl it's just sad." Hermione looked up again. Her face was red with anger, or embarassment, I couldn't tell which. She shook her head slightly at me. Apparently I was not to tell them about her date.

"I won't be going alone because believe it or not, someone's asked me." Hermione hissed furiously. She snatched her book up from the table and stormed over to where Snape was now hovering near the table full of Hufflepuffs. Handing him the notes, Hermione turned on her heel and came back to our table. "And I said yes." cramming the rest of her things into her bag she fled presumably back to Gryffindor tower. Harry turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"She's lying right?" Ron asked Harry, who shrugged, and then turned to me. "She's lying right?" I shrugged. "Alright, we've just got to grit our teeth and do it. Tonight when we get back to the common room, we'll both have partners." Snape stopped behind them, pulling back his sleeves a little. I motioned furiously at them to stop talking, they didn't see me. "Agreed?" Harry nodded. Snape banged their heads together and stalked off. "Thanks for the warning on that one." Ron snapped bitterly. His face turned cold as someone stopped behind me. "What do you want?" I figured he was counting everyone as Hermione's possible date.

"I was just going to ask Andi for some help on the Animagus essay." Austin Christener stood behind me. He was a fourth year Chaser on the Ravenclaw House team. Ron eyed his blue tie.

"Aren't Raveclaws supposed to be smart. Besides, isn't she a year younger than you?" Austin scramled for an answer. I shot Ron a dirty look as I got up from the table.

"I'm sorry about Ron. He's going through a--tramatic-- moment." Austin pulled out a chair for me. "I didn't know anything about an essay on Animagi. I usually check Harry's essays." I added at his questionable glance. "What do--"

"Doyouwannagototheballwithme?" he rushed out. I felt eyes boring holes into my back.

"Sorry?" a few of his friends looked up. Some of the girls disgruntled.

"Will you go to the ball with me?" he repeated at an understandable speed. One of the girls frowned and bent her head low over her book. I swear she was crying.

"Oh." let's see: stay cooped up in my room for the night or go to the ball and watch Harry be madly jealous? Rephrase: stay in my room or go to the ball and tell myself he's madly jealous. "Sure. Yeah I'd love to." I stood up quickly. I needed to see Bella. "You may want to check the Animagus spell by the way. It's _Animagious _and then the latin name of the animal you want to chang into." not that I'd ever had to use that spell. I was just born with two wierd talents: changing my appearence and changing into a dog. Austin smiled as I headed back to my table. "You have essays on Animagi?" I held my hand out to Harry. He placed a parchment in my hand.

"Andi, I just had and idea." Ron said serenly.

"And you don't get those too often. Do you need to see Madam Pomphrey for the pain?" he ignored me completley.

"You could go with Harry. It's not like I need a partner but Harry'd look kinda funny dancing alone." Way. To. Be. Ron. Give me a life altering suggestion after I make the decision. Nice. "I-I-I can't. I've got a date already." Harry's head snapped up. Would my evil plan really work? He had a sour look on his face. It was just like magic. (No pun intended. Honestly.)

"Is it that kid that was just over here?" I shrugged. "Who's Hermione going with?" it had to come up sooner or later. Another shrug. "Thanks for your help?"

As the ball grew closer, rumors flew around the school, such as: Dumbledore had ordered a hundred barrels of Madam Rosmerta's finest mead or that he had booked the Wierd Sisters, a wizarding band that everyone seemed to know. The number of weeks of days filled in for the usual greeting. Finally the day arrived, celebrated by a huge snowball fight on the grounds between Harry, Ron, and I against Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Hermione sat on the side lines watching and reading. She was my clock: when it had come down to four hours until the ball, Hermione stood to go back inside to get ready. I threw one last ball of magically compressed snow (which landed between Fred's eyes) and hurried off to join her. "WHY DO YOU NEED FOUR HOURS?" Harry called after us. I turned and waved. Running as much as we could through the deep snow, we finally ended in the fourth year dorm. I had laid all of my stuff out along side Hermione's. I rushed off to take a quick bath and was stopped on my way out my Moaning Myrtle. I shrieked and slipped on the wet floor. She cackled madly. Bella was talking to Hermione when I got back.

"Why is your robe all wet?" Bella asked when I entered wetter than I intended.

"Moaning Myrtle." was all I said. "I still don't think she's quite forgiven us for taking the Polyjuice Potion in her bathroom." though she'd enjoyed Hermione's transformation into a cat, Myrtle was displeased that Harry had not died in the Chamer of Secrets. I threw on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top and set to work on Hermione's bushy hair. An hour later along with half a bottle of Sleek Easy soultion, her hair was smoothed back into a twisted bun. A single lock was curled and hung down from the bun. By that time, my hair was nearly dry, with out the use of magic. "What to do? What to do?" I asked no one in particular, brushing out my matted hair. Bella snatched the brush with a mad look in her eyes.

"I need your hair to be about a foot longer." I screwed up my face and my hair grew. "And this is why I love you hair." my hair was twirled and pinned until it ran completely around the back of my head like a halo. Bella was pinning small pale yellow rose buds into the twist. One hour left. We heard the guys stomping up to their dorms. I wondered who had won the snowball fight after I had left. Most likely not us.

"Ta da." Hermione said spinning around. Her periwinkle dress reached the floor. The floaty skirt swished as she twirled, reminding me how Susana and I must have looked when we would play dress up. Only better. She looked at the clock perched on her nightstand. Forty-five minutes. "I'd better go. The chamions and their dates have to be early." I'm not sure but I don't think they had to be there _that_ much early. I could be wrong though. She dashed through the door, skirt flying out. I pulled my dress on. It was a satin pale green, the kind where you look twice to make sure it wasn't white. The high waist was a white ribbon that tied in the back. The only way the hem of the dress wouldn't scrape along the floor was the clear strappy high heels I was currently pulling on.

"Get!" Bella finally shouted at me. The clock read 7:55. "Cinderella, your ball starts in five minutes!" I swatted at her as I headed for the door. "And don't forget: be back by midnight or you will turn into a pumpkin or something. Don't lose your shoe either!" I reached the top of the staris that led to the Great Hall and stopped. Peeking around the corner, I saw Harry and Parvati Patil standing at the bottom. Harry was watching Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion. Parvati gasped as I came around the corner.

--

"She looks beautiful." she murmered. Harry nodded, still watching Cho. When Parvati didn't reply, he turned. Anne stood at the top of the stairs in her green dress. The roots of her hair were threatening purple: the color of her nervousness. She smiled at someone behind Harry. He couldn't turn, he was rooted to the spot. The someone was now beside him. Only when she had reached the bottom stair, did Harry finally get a good look at Anne's date. It was in fact the same Ravenclaw boy who had pulled her away that day in the library. Austin something or other. He didn't really care, he just wanted to smash his face in. No hard feelings though. Anne seemed to finally notice him for the first time and gave a dazzling smile as she and Austin passed into the Great Hall. MCGonagall ushered him and Parvati over to where the other champions stood. The strange girl who had come in with Krum turned to face him.

"Hi Harry!" it was Hermione. He was sure his jaw had gone through the floor this time. McGonagall was scurrying about ordering them into a line. It was going to be a long night. Harry was sure of it. Once the last of the students had entered the Great Hall, McGonagall waved Fleur and Roger Davies in, follwed by Hermione and Krum, Cedric and Cho, and finally, Harry and Parvati. Harry spotted Anne and Ron near the front of the crowd. The four champions stopped on the dance floor; there was a larger-than-necessay empty space as if the dancing was repelling the other students who weren't forced out there.

"Take my waist." Parvati hissed at Harry as the Weird Sisters struck up a mournful tune. They danced clumsily, Parvati leading. Harry relaxed a little when more of the students and teachers filled the floor. The song ended and was immediately follwed by a much more up beat song. "But I like this song." Parvati complained when Harry made a break for an empty table. Ron slouched to the chair next to Harry; Parvati and Padma sat on either side of their dates casting each other dark looks.

"Ruddy pumpkin head." Ron mumbled. His eye was trained on Hermione and Krum. Harry's attention flickered between Cho and Cedric and Anne and Austin.

"I don't think it was the books that had him going for the libray." was his dark reply. Parvati and Padma exchanged pitiful glances before a boy from Durmdtrang approached Parvati.

"May I have your arm?" he asked making a slight bow and extending his hand. Harry didn't notice or care.

"Arm, leg, I'm yours." Padma sighed with displeasure as her sister left. Once again, the song came to an end. Hermione and Krum appeared next to Harry and Ron's table. Ron sat up from his slouch a little, hopes rising. He slupmed back down when Krum kissed Hermione's hand and left to get drinks.

"Hot isn't it?" she asked, blushing a deep shade of maroon as she took Parvati's empty seat. Ron glared at her while Harry stared straight ahead, hoping it would do some good. Ron gave a grunt and Hermione continued. "Viktor's gone to go and get drinks, would you like to join us?" Ron grumbled something nasty. "What's got your wand in a knot?" she demanded finally.

"You're fraternizing with the enemy." he snapped. Hermione repeated him dully. "He's a Durmstang, competing against Harry." Harry half turned his head upon hearing his name, attention still focused on Anne.

"The enemy? Who was it wanting his autograph? Besides, the whole point of the tournament is international... magical... cooperation. To make friends." Hermione was glancing nervously around the Great Hall.

"Yeah? Well, I think he's got a _bit more_ than friendship on his mind." Ron snarled. Hermione shot out of her chair, startling Padma. She turned to leave. Throwing Harry a completley missed glare, she opened her mouth to retort, no words came out. Shutting her mouth, Hermione stormed away from them.

"Are you going to ask me to dance or not?" Padma asked after a few minutes. Ron grunted what sounded like a 'no' and Padma swept off to join her sister, the Durmstrang boy and his friend. They were both silent for a long strech of time, both glaring at thier respective girls.

"Ron, I don't have a problem with Hermione coming with Krum." Harry mumbled. Rone turned to him nastily.

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't have a problem with Andi coming with Austin."

--

The ball was growing to close as I wandered out the doors. Snow was falling gently. Harry was suddenly beind me. "So." Oh, geez. I'm going to get lectured. "He's a bit old for you don't you think?" he shot out. "Don't you?"

"What?" I screeched back. "What? So-so that's what you think?" I turned back towards the doors. He gave a nervous nod. "I would bet you anything--anything!-- that you wouldn't have the slightest complaint if I was here with _you_." My face burned red. I stared horrified at the snowy ground. The few wisps of hair that had epcaped were bright red. "Never mind that!" I took a shaky breath. "Off to bed." He followed my pointed finger into the castle and up the stairs.

"They get scary when they get older." Ron murmmered to Harry when he met him on the stairs. Hermione was in tears at the bottom. She screamed at him and they scampered up the stairs. I sank onto a step, pulling off my shoes.

--

**A/N- Seeing as I probably did a really bad job at describing Anne's hair: if you've ever seen the movie(or pictures from it) **_**The Other Boleyn Girl**_**, her hair was like Mary's at the first ball when she came to court. Also, I don't own any of the characters except for Anne and Susana. Sorry it took so long to update!**


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